


Yonderland drabbles

by hourtohourtohour



Category: Yonderland (TV)
Genre: Domestic Bliss, Established Relationship, F/M, Gender Dysphoria, Ho-Tan is Trans, Illness, Pancakes, Self-indulgent fluff, Thanktival, Vex has a cold, VexTan, ho-tan is having a bad day, the elders have a cuddle pile, vex is the best boyfriend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-02-28 09:52:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13268955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hourtohourtohour/pseuds/hourtohourtohour
Summary: A series of yonderland drabbles!!! Dedicated to allineedisaquill for being the heart of the yonderland fandom, AutisticWriter for writing some great VexTan and being supportive of my work, and for injeong for being a great friend, encouraging me to keep writing and reading my work even though she has never seen the show! ♡♡♡





	1. Ho-Tan's Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [allineedisaquill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allineedisaquill/gifts), [AutisticWriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/gifts), [injeong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/injeong/gifts).



Ho-Tan is having a bad day. She gets them sometimes – even though she knows her friends are very accepting and she knows that she is a woman, she just doesn’t feel right in her body. On these days she avoids all the mirrors and people she can and tries to pretend that she’s fine, and that’s exactly what she’s planning on doing today. Except when she tries to get dressed she feels the ache in her throat which means she’s about to cry. And she does, as quietly as she can because she Elder’s castle is old and the walls are thin and she doesn’t want her friends worrying about her. Her hair is still a mess from sleeping so she brushes and tries to do something with it without looking in the mirror, but nothing is going right today so she has to look to fix the mess she’s made trying to do her usual tiny braids. The face staring back at her does not look her own. All the masculine features seem to stand out and Ho-Tan feels like a fraud. Debbie had once told her that saying 5 good things about herself every morning helped build confidence and Ho-Tan tries to do it every day but today she just can’t. Her mind is completely blank of good words and the negative thoughts she tries not to think come rushing into her brain. All too aware of the redness around her eyes and the prick of tears threatening to spill, Ho-Tan picks up her book and quill and rushes off to the meeting she’s already late for.  
Vex notices something is wrong as soon as Ho-Tan rushes into the room, her hair covering her face and her shoulders hunched. He tries to lean past Elder Choop to get a better look, but he seems keen to start the meeting.  
“Ho-Tan, are you ready to start the meeting?”  
She doesn’t trust herself to open her mouth without bursting into tears so she nods hastily and opens her notebook. She doesn’t need to look up to know that Vex’s face is creased with worry and guilt settles in her stomach. She really doesn’t deserve Vex. He has always been there for her – before she came out, before she even recognized and accepted her feelings, he had been there for her since the day they had met. She remembers that day, her hands had been shaking so badly she had broken several quills, which is exactly what is happening now.  
The elders hear the snap and curse muttered under Ho-Tan’s breath which signifies another quill being broken and look at Ho-Tan.  
“Are you quite alright Ho-Tan?” Choop asks kindly. Once again she simply nods, her head still down with her hair covering her face and her eyes avoiding everyone else’s.  
“Ho-Tan-” Flowers begins, placing a gentle hand on her arm.  
“I’m fine!” she snaps, finally looking up. Her face looks puffy and her eyes look bloodshot. “Can please continue the meeting? Please?” Vex opens his mouth then closing it again, shaking his head in defeat.  
“Alright then,” Choop begins, trying to break the awkward silence. “Back to the issue at hand…”

Ho-Tan manages to make it through most of the day without breaking down but it’s a simple mistake made by a catering service worker that causes everything to come crashing down. The man had been sent to collect orders for the now annual Blank Holiday Banquet.  
“So that’s all? Perfect, I’ll give those orders to the boss, then. Have a nice day, Gentlemen!”  
Ho-Tan feels her hands beginning to shake as she looks at her feet, blinking back tears. The man has left, oblivious to the hurt he has caused.  
“Ho-Tan?” Vex asks gently, his eyes filled with worry. But Ho-Tan has had enough of this terrible day. Tears streaming down her face, she runs out of the chamber, her footsteps echoing through the empty corridors. Vex immediately stands up to go after her but Choop sticks his arm out to block him.  
“Give her some space,” Pressley whispers. 

About an hour later when Ho-Tan is fairly sure she has shed every drop of water in her body in the form of tears, she hears a soft knock on her door.  
“Come in,” she says, her voice hoarse and quiet. She knows even before he enters that it is Vex, and he is holding a steaming cup of peppermint tea. Feeling the bed creak under his weight next to her, she looks up. Ho-Tan knows she looks absolutely awful but if Vex thinks that, his face doesn’t show it – it wears and expression of adoration and sympathy. Ho-Tan does not deserve this man. Wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders, he hands her the tea.  
“Thank you,” she whispers and suddenly she is exhausted from a day of crying and hating herself, and she leans her head on Vex’s shoulder and folds into his embrace. He tenderly kisses the top of her head and all Ho-Tan can think of is that she loves this man more than anything else in this world or any of the others. She thought there were no tears left to cry but with Vex holding her tighter than the exhaustion gripping her body, she buries his head in his chest and sobs.

Ho-Tan thinks she must have drifted off sometime while crying and Vex gently rocking her back and forth because when she looks up her tea has gone cold and Vex is struggling to stay awake.  
“Hello again. Are you feeling better?” Ho-Tan smiles and nods.  
“Thank you for everything, Vex, I really don’t deserve you.”  
“No, you deserve so much more but I do try my best, my dear.”  
“I love you Vex.”  
“I love you too, Ho-Tan. Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?”  
Ho-Tan takes a deep breath and sighs. She knows she should talk it out with Vex and she knows she will at some point, but right now she feels too fragile.  
“Maybe some other time?”  
“Alright, tell me when you’re ready, my dear. Now, I think the others were up for a game of charades if you were feeling better. Should we go or would you just like to stay here?”  
“I think we should go. I have to apologise to Choop for storming out of the meeting this morning and to Flowers for snapping at him.”  
“They’re not cross with you, Ho-Tan, they were worried and so was I. If you’re having another bad day like this, please tell me, OK? Please don’t feel like you’re all alone because you’re not, and Choop would happily excuse you from a day of meetings if it would make you feel better. You just need to tell us.”  
A smile grows on Ho-Tan’s face and she nods.  
“Right, should we go and save Choop from Flowers and Pressley?”

Ho-Tan is curled up into Vex’s side with his chon resting on the top of her head, trying to figure out what book Flowers is trying to mime. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Choop shuffle a bit closer to Vex. He smiles at her and she smiles back, the warmth of his expression making her want to never stop smiling. Later, when Pressley, claiming he isn’t drunk, just bad at acting is trying to do mime some play which he claims is incredibly obvious, Ho-Tan feels Flowers’ hand find hers and he gives it a comforting squeeze.  
“You ok?” he whispers. She nods and smiles at her best friend. Later still, when Yonderland’s three moons are high in the sky, she notices Pressley reach his arm over Flowers’ miraculously still covered shoulders, and give her shoulder a gentle pat. How she managed to get such amazing and caring friends Ho-Tan does not know, and how she has the most wonderful, kind boyfriend ever, she has no clue but she is eternally grateful that they continue to accept and support her.  
Yonderland’s moons shine down upon the tangle of limbs on the big sofa in the aptly named Comfort Chamber, where 5 people are very, very happy.


	2. Doodling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ho-Tan likes to draw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another drabble :)

Everyone who knows Ho-Tan knows that she loves writing, but very few know about her interest in drawing. When the elders argue, which is quite often, and nothing worth writing is coming out of the meeting, Ho-Tan doodles. She doodles anything and everything - from clouds to quills to animals, many of her meeting notes are covered in little drawings. Ho-Tan also draws her fellow elders, especially Vex. So far, Choop has found: 

•a drawing of Flowers on a list of new laws to be published to the population

•an exaggerated cartoon of Choop on the corner of a document sentencing an elf killer to death (from a day where Choop was in a bad mood)

•a perfect drawing of the face Pressley made when he found out that Trevor had stolen his whiskey on the confirmation letter for the new Elders’ palace gardens

And countless drawings of Vex. Pictures of his eyes, his hair, his mouth, his face, his smile, the way his eyes crinkle when he laughs on everything. From legal documents to formal invitations to THE SCROLL OF THE CHOSEN ONE. Choop had really flipped out when he found that one. He decided he had to do something about it. So, a few days before Ho-Tan’s birthday (Debbie had explained the concept to them), Choop found Vex and told him his plan, which Vex found a very good idea. When the day came, Vex lead Ho-Tan into the comfort chamber blindfolded, where the other elders had placed the presents and decorated the room. As soon as the blindfold was off, they started singing happy birthday, and Ho-Tan let out a happy squeak. After she blew out the candles on the cake (lovingly baked by Vex), Ho-Tan started opening her presents. As usual, she received a quill, the feather from a different exotic bird every year, as well as some colourful ink to go with it. Flowers and Pressley also gave her concert tickets for the three of them, as Choop didn’t like modern music and Vex didn’t like loud music.

Finally, they lead her to what had been the conservatory. It was next to the comfort room and had a balcony as well as glass walls and windows which let the sunlight in perfectly. No one had been in there for years and Ho-Tan thought it was covered in dust. However, the room had been completely renovated. It was spotless and a desk with lots of art supplies surrounded by easels with empty canvases. Ho-Tan gasped and looked at Vex with tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but Vex blurted out “it was Choop’s idea.”

“But you carried it out!”

“It was still your idea though -”

“Thank you. Both of you. This is an amazing birthday present and I couldn’t have wished for better friends. Ho-Tan rushed forward and wrapped both of them in a tight hug.


	3. Thanktival Illness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex gets a cold during Thanktival but tries to hide so he doesn’t worry Ho-Tan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry I haven’t updated in forever but I just rewatched Yonderland and I’m on holiday so I’ll try to update again soon. Enjoy!

Vex loves Thanktival, he really does. He loves the festivity, the decorations, the gifts (now that Chompus is trapped), and the smiles on everyone’s faces, especially Ho-Tan’s. The one thing Vex does not like about Thanktival is the weather. He hates how cold it is, how wet it is and how he has to wear extra layers just to stay relatively warm. Unfortunately for Vex, the weather is Ho-Tan’s favourite part of the holiday. She grew up in the north of Yonderland where it snows for a third of the year, so every Thanktival is a little pang of nostalgia for her. And as it makes her so happy, Vex is going to have to enjoy it too. Anyway, it can’t be that bad, can it?  
Vex sighs as a snowball from Flowers hits him in the face.  
“Direct hit!” Choop calls out and Vex resists the urge to pour a bucket of snow over Choop’s perfectly shaped hair. Ho-Tan giggles.  
“You’ve got to dodge them, Vex, or you’ll keep getting hit. Throw one back!”  
Vex begrudgingly picks up a snowball and throws it half-heartedly in the direction of Flowers and Pressley. It lands 2 metres in front of them. Ho-Tan facepalms.  
“Vex, come on, you can do better than that! Watch this.” She picks up a snowball and throws it. It hits Pressley directly in the face. Ho-Tan turns back to him, her smile wide, her cheeks flushed from the cold and a bit of her hair poking out from under the hat she had knitted herself. Vex smiles, despite his bad mood, at her beauty... until another snowball hits him in the face.  
Vex’s teeth are chattering by the time they finally go back inside, his jumper wet from snow. His gloves are soaked through so he takes them off, only to find that the tips of his fingers are turning blue. Great, he thinks, as if this day couldn’t get any better. Normally, there is some cuddling involved with a certain someone after snowball fights, but Ho-Tan has been dragged away by Flowers and Pressley to try some new game of theirs. So, by the time Ho-Tan softly opens the door to Vex’s chamber and peers in, Vex is lying in bed asleep.  
Vex wakes up sweating, while it’s still dark outside, after a night of fitful sleep. He stands up to get a glass of water and black spots flash in front of his eyes and he has to lean against the wall for stability. It’s only when he drinks the cold water that he starts wondering why he is so warm when yesterday he was so cold. With a groan, he realises that he is ill, then has to go sit on his bed because his legs felt like they would if Trevor had legs. It takes him 45 minutes to get ready for the day, and try and calm his shaking hands and racing heart. Ho-Tan can’t know that he is ill – it would ruin her Thanktival having to look after him.  
Despite waking up early, Vex is the last one to arrive in the throne chamber where all the meetings are held. Ho-Tan smiles and waves at him, and Vex gives her a weak smile in return and climbs onto his seat.  
“Don’t sit down, Vex,” Choop says, “We’re going straight to the main balcony.” Vex had forgotten it was speech day, the day where all the citizens of Yonderland could come and see the Elders give their Thanktival speech. Choop was the only one who actually spoke during the whole event and it was the job of the rest of the elders to wave at their subjects, or, in Trevor’s case, to wobble. With a sigh, Vex gets back up again and follows the other elders to the balcony.  
Ho-Tan knows something is up with Vex, she just doesn’t know what. Last night, after managing to escape from a third round of Flowers’ and Pressley’s new game, she had gone to find Vex, feeling guilty about the little time she had spent with him that day. Vex always looked younger when he slept, Ho-Tan finds, his curls framing his head like a halo, his mouth slightly open and his face free of wrinkles. Not wanting to wake her sleeping boyfriend, Ho-Tan presses a kiss to his forehead and tiptoes out of the room.

Ho-Tan comes to the conclusion that Vex is feeling lonely and left out from yesterday – that adds up with the forced smiles, right? But half way through Choop’s speech, she notices that Vex is gripping the railing on the balcony so hard that his knuckles have turned white, and his face, paler than usual, is beaded with sweat. When Choop’s speech is finally over, (Ho-Tan tries to make them interesting, but there’s only so much you can write about the past year and Thanktival), Ho-Tan rushes over to him as the Elders make their way off the balcony.

“Vex! Are you alright?” she asks, concern on her face.

“Yes, yes, I’m perfectly alri-”

“No, you’re not! What’s the matter?”

“Well, I do feel a bit light-headed.”

“Let’s get you back to your chamber, then we can see what’s up with you.”

Vex nods, his face paler than usual.

They manage to make it back to Vex’s bedchamber, with Vex leaning on Ho-Tan more and more the closer they get.

When they finally get in, Ho-Tan rushed into the bathroom to grab Vex a glass of water, and misses Vex’s eyes rolling backwards in his head him collapsing backwards onto the bed. 

Vex’s eyes flutter open as Ho-Tan kneels down beside him.

“Hello, my dear, how are you?"

“Vex, why didn't you tell me you were ill?"

Vex looked sheepish. "I didn’t want to worry you and ruin your Thanktival,” he mumbled.

“Oh Vex, you couldn’t ruin my Thanktival if you set the palace on fire!”

They both giggle and smile at each other, their eyes full of affection.

“Right, you are staying in this bed until I deem you well enough to leave it. Understood?”

Vex nods. “One thing.”

Ho-Tan raises an eyebrow.

Vex smiles. “This bed is cold, and I’m too cold to warm it up by myself,” he says, lifting the covers.

Ho-Tan rolls her eyes but she is smiling as she crawls into the bed to cuddle with her favourite person in the realm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading - if you enjoyed please remember to leave kudos and comments. Thank you! ~ell


	4. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vex makes Ho-Tan pancakes once a week.

While the Elders dined together for five nights a week and had lunch together more often than not, they would make themselves breakfast. This was a good arrangement as they preferred different foods for breakfast. Choop had porridge, Flowers had a fruit smoothie and some health oats that everyone else thought were disgusting, Pressley loved Frosties which he paid Debbie to get him from the Super Market of Sainsbury, and Vex and Ho-Tan loved pancakes. However, they didn’t have the time to make them every morning, so they had them once a week, when Vex would make a breakfast of pancakes for them both in his ensuite chamber he had chosen to turn into a kitchen (Flowers had made his a yoga space, Pressley an extra storage space for all the objects he had amassed over the years and could not be bothered to sort out or tidy, Ho-Tan had a study combined with a library, and nobody knew what was in Choop’s room). Vex had thought long and hard about what to put in his room, but his love of cooking and baking and annoyance at the other Elder’s putting all the cooking appliances back in the wrong places in their shared kitchen persuaded him to have an ensuite kitchen, and he couldn’t be more happy with his choice.

Unlike Ho-Tan, who despite being perfect in every way in Vex’s eyes, couldn’t cook or bake to save her life, Vex prided himself on making amazing pancakes, pork chops and everything in between, and never failed to wake Ho-Tan up with the smell of pancakes cooking in from his ensuite cooking chamber on pancake days.

However, one morning, the smell of pancakes was not the only thing that woke her up. Vex’s bed chamber was usually quiet in the mornings with Vex sleeping in until the last moment before getting ready for the meetings or Vex staying relatively quiet on pancake days so as not to disturb Ho-Tan as she slept. This was not the case today.

Ho-Tan cracked one eye open and tried to identify the noise that woke her up then realised it was... singing? Vex rarely sang although his singing was probably the best out of all the elders. His singing voice was quite like his personality, Ho-Tan thought, - soft and quiet, but very lovely. She got out of bed and padded towards the kitchen in her thick socks and couldn’t help grinning when she heard the song that Vex was singing. It was from Debbie’s side of the portal and they had only heard it a couple of times, but it had found a way into her heart, and she thought about Vex whenever she heard it.

_“Take my hand, take my whole life too. Because I can’t help falling in love with you.”_

Ho-Tan peeked into the kitchen and giggled at the sight before her. Vex seemed to be performing to their rabbits, who were perched on the table, and he was using a spatula as a microphone. Vex continued the song, unaware of Ho-Tan watching him.

_”Like a river flows, surely to the sea, darling so it goes. Some things are meant to be.”_

Unable to stop herself, Ho-Tan walked into the kitchen, slowly, trying not to scare Vex, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He put his hands on her waist and they swayed to the rest of the song, singing together.

_”Take my hand, take my whole life too. Because I can’t help falling in love with you.”_

Ho-Tan ended the song by leaning in and kissing Vex softly on his lips.

”Lovely concert there, the rabbits and I loved it.”

Vex blushed.

”Sorry for waking you.”

”It was worth it.”

They smiled, their arms still wrapped around each other.

Vex started suddenly. “I’m supposed to be making pancakes!” He still had a light blush on his cheeks and there was some flour on his nose. Ho-Tan leaned in to kiss him again. Pancakes could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much if you are reading this! This fandom is so small and anything i’m writing is mainly self-indulgent! Please comment because I’d love to know what tou think and what you’d like to see me write next. Thank you again! ~ell


End file.
